13/14 inches Surface Pro on the way

[RémiM]

Satya Nadella and Panos Panay (who I was with yesterday ).

Next time, say "hi buddy" from me

I trust Microsoft in not having an endless lineup but a consistent and smart one.
This is why IMO they should shrink a bit Surface 2, and kill the 10 inches size, which is now a cross-bred size.
I would be happy if they had a let's say 7-8 inches Surface (call it the Mini if you want) and the current 12 inches Surface Pro.
And nothing in between.
If I want something bigger, then I buy a classic computer.

 

[GreyFox7]

Next time, say "hi buddy" from me

I trust Microsoft in not having an endless lineup but a consistent and smart one.
This is why IMO they should shrink a bit Surface 2, and kill the 10 inches size, which is now a cross-bred size.
I would be happy if they had a let's say 7-8 inches Surface (call it the Mini if you want) and the current 12 inches Surface Pro.
And nothing in between.
If I want something bigger, then I buy a classic computer.

Id prefer my Surface 3 as the same size as the 2 but with 16:10 screen. Anything smaller than 10.1 is dead to me. I had an 8.9 device, got rid of it, too small. I could scrape by maybe with a 9.7 but I didn't like it before getting a 10.6 so going back would be really tough.

The Pro line at 12.1 is a great fit. Some would probably like larger but it's hard to see sales being robust. That means they would have to have very tight controls on production at best and it may be limited to the same specs, same board to keep costs down. Maybe they could connect a daughter card with extra USB, DP, microSD, and more RAM.

 

[SRVwannab]

First, I love my SP3 just the size it is. For me, perfect form factor.

Second, IMVHO, "inking" on the SP3 is the game changer. I could see value in that as an add to a notebook computer of any size. I love it.

 

[B'midbar]

I doubt we'll see this as the SP3 accessories have been confirmed to work across the board with the SP4 (Keyboards, Docks, etc.), specifically for the Enterprise Space, this has been stated by both Satya Nadella and Panos Panay (who I was with yesterday ).

Don't suppose you got a release date out of them for the SP4?

 

[Maximus3D]

It's unlikely to happen since Microsoft themselves said the upcoming device will be compatible with the current Surface Pro 3 dock and other accessories. You cannot squeeze a larger device into a smaller dock without damaging it badly.

/ Magnus

 

[jnjroach]

Don't suppose you got a release date out of them for the SP4?

Nope....

 

[bluegrass]

Maybe they'll develop one that is quadruple the SP3 in size. The screen will unfold like a game board.

 

[DXL007]

Too big

 

[GreyFox7]

Nope....

He'd have better luck finding a hen's tooth.
Although since they're descendant from dinosaurs there could be some; still extremely rare. Chichenosaurus was fierce I tell you

 

[RémiM]

Anything smaller than 10.1 is dead to me. I had an 8.9 device, got rid of it, too small. I could scrape by maybe with a 9.7 but I didn't like it before getting a 10.6 so going back would be really tough.

The Pro line at 12.1 is a great fit. Some would probably like larger but it's hard to see sales being robust. That means they would have to have very tight controls on production at best and it may be limited to the same specs, same board to keep costs down. Maybe they could connect a daughter card with extra USB, DP, microSD, and more RAM.

Maybe my love for small tablets is biased because I dont have any cellphone.

Agree with you concerning the 12.1 inches.

 

[sean_scouser]

I think surface size it is now is perfect , can see why they would make bigger screen as competitor for other larger devices

 

[Deryl McCarty]

Jeff - your comment .....and Panos Panay (who I was with yesterday ); next time you see him give him - and the Surface Team - my best wishes as well.

B'midbar - Your question to Jeff "Don't suppose you got a release date out of them for the SP4? ". Jeff answered "Nope". I hope you did not expect any other answer. Because if he gave it, Jeff would likely get a new job as Supervisor and sole technician at the Windows 95 help desk in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.

Humor aside, I can see where the Surface team could have their cake and eat it too. By keeping the current SP3 form factor and layout to allow for consistency in external accessories for businesses, you could increase the usable screen size from 12 to 13 inches (diagonal) by converting some of the black mask between bezel and active screen (perhaps just .25 inches on the top and bottom and .375 inches on each side) resulting in pretty close to 13 inch effective screen. By upping the pixel density by a bit you could probably keep 3:2 and gain a sharper image yet will have not changed the form factor. This probably hinges on a late Broadwell or Skylake 14nm chip with a post 5000 GPU and you would see a 5.4W power draw, still get a 2.9GHz turbo and less heat and in less space so that the battery could expand. Then you would start to really see 12 hours of movies, emails and surfing on a battery charge. That might mean giving up or changing the Windows button on the right side, but you could reprogram the pen button so that one click is One Note, two clicks is Desktop/Start Menu and three clicks is screen select.